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The Creation of a Console

The first step was creating a design document that detailed every possible aspect of the system, from the controllers and the online capabilities on down to the CPU and the types of resistors used. J said that while the final document was over 250 pages long, he wanted to be able to give a one-sentence answer to all of the people who asked him about the new system. After a lot of discussion, the team came up with a phrase that they felt summed up the Xbox 360 experience perfectly:

Xbox 360 is setting out to build a living entertainment experience powered by human energy.

OK, I know what you're thinking, and yes, the previous sentence does sound a lot like the same hokey marketing-speak we hear all the time. Thankfully, J elaborated, explaining that while many games are simply an interactive experience, living entertainment is something that is constantly changing, offering every gamer a unique experience. In its most basic form, an example of living entertainment could be a game like Grand Theft Auto, which allows players to freely roam around a world and gives them the ability to choose their actions.

As we move into the future, our game experiences won't be decided by a game designer or a programmer, although they'll still be important parts of the process. The real power, according to J, will come from the people playing the games. He proceeded to draw a parallel between the Internet and Xbox 360. The biggest reason that the Internet grew so quickly was that it finally gave anyone with a computer and a modem the power to make their voices heard. With the press of a button, your opinions and ideas could be shared with thousands of like-minded people. Microsoft is attempting to re-create that phenomenon with the Xbox 360, giving gamers a chance to create and share experiences.

With that, J stepped to the whiteboard and drew a chart with the headers "2D," "3D," and "HD," referring to three generations of gaming. He then proceeded to list the changes from one generation to the next, from distribution models (cartridge, CD/DVD, and online) to types of games (original, licensed, player-created). The most interesting was the section detailing the philosophical centers of the three eras.

In the 2D days, the technology was king, as people often talked about the power of 8-bit and 16-bit consoles. The move to 3D was accompanied by a shift that made content king. The rise of console-specific titles during this era made gamers focus more on the titles themselves, and we saw a lot more games that were considered "system movers." If you wanted to play Halo, you had to buy an Xbox, while fans of the Metal Gear Solid series had no choice but to buy a PS2. In the next-generation, however, Microsoft believes that the gamer should be the center of the experience. Giving them the power of creation will result in new and ever-changing experiences.